Which form of coverage will come to play if the insured himself drives his SUV into a ditch, and hit the road signs? will my comprehensive cover the costs?
Total Comments: 5
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 01:33 pm Post Subject:
will my comprehensive cover the costs?
Nope, the damage to your SUV is a collision loss, pure and simple. That's one of the reasons many policies call comprehensive coverage "other than collision" -- to help folks understand what it covers.
You also damaged (or destroyed) "property" owned by the state (or city / county) [probably said so on the back of the sign], which is not a comprehensive loss or a collision loss, it's a property damage (liability) loss.
If you had hit a deer and run off the road, damaging the same sign, the damage done by the deer (and any ensuing damage from running off the road) to your vehicle is covered under "other than collision" (because hitting an animal is excluded under collision coverage).
Now, if you hit the deer, run off the road, and the deer hits the sign and the sign falls and does additional damage to your SUV, that's entirely a comprehensive loss. The state would probably still come after you for the damage to its sign, which would not be paid for by your collision or comprehensive coverage, because it is still a third-party property loss. It would be paid for under your property damage liability coverage.
Your insurance company could also deny the claim for the sign, under the theory that it was not damaged by you, but by the deer. After the state sued you, and won, your insurance company would then be forced to cover your loss. So they would probably not deny that claim to begin with, because it exposes them to other liability.
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 07:46 am Post Subject:
The deer part got me all confused. As I understood, in my case, the collision and liability coverage will come into effect, right ?
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 01:13 pm Post Subject:
The "deer part" was not to confuse you but to point out to you and others that crashing your vehicle into the deer itself is a comprehensive loss, not a collision loss. And damage to property is neither a collision loss nor a comprehensive loss. Collision and comprehensive losses, both subject to deductibles, are "first party losses" and property damage or personal injuries suffered by persons other than you (and who are not members of your household) are "third party" losses and paid for only by liability insurance, and then only when your negligence is involved.
And, yes, running your SUV off the road results in a collision loss to the SUV (subject to your deductible), and if you damaged anyone's property, such as road signs, guard rails, fences, landscaping, or vehicles, your liability coverage pays for that -- up to your policy limits.
Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 05:48 pm Post Subject:
OK, so if I hit a deer and then go off the road and hit a sign, which does more damage to my vehicle, is this all be handled under comprehensive? This is assuming that there was no damage to the sign. Thanks for your help.
Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 12:15 am Post Subject:
OK, so if I hit a deer and then go off the road and hit a sign, which does more damage to my vehicle, is this all be handled under comprehensive?
That's correct but your insurance company is going to look for confirmation that you hit a deer, such as a dead dear or hair on the vehicle. Lots of people attempt to claim they hit a deer when they really just ran into a sign.
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 01:33 pm Post Subject:
will my comprehensive cover the costs?
Nope, the damage to your SUV is a collision loss, pure and simple. That's one of the reasons many policies call comprehensive coverage "other than collision" -- to help folks understand what it covers.You also damaged (or destroyed) "property" owned by the state (or city / county) [probably said so on the back of the sign], which is not a comprehensive loss or a collision loss, it's a property damage (liability) loss.
If you had hit a deer and run off the road, damaging the same sign, the damage done by the deer (and any ensuing damage from running off the road) to your vehicle is covered under "other than collision" (because hitting an animal is excluded under collision coverage).
Now, if you hit the deer, run off the road, and the deer hits the sign and the sign falls and does additional damage to your SUV, that's entirely a comprehensive loss. The state would probably still come after you for the damage to its sign, which would not be paid for by your collision or comprehensive coverage, because it is still a third-party property loss. It would be paid for under your property damage liability coverage.
Your insurance company could also deny the claim for the sign, under the theory that it was not damaged by you, but by the deer. After the state sued you, and won, your insurance company would then be forced to cover your loss. So they would probably not deny that claim to begin with, because it exposes them to other liability.
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 07:46 am Post Subject:
The deer part got me all confused. As I understood, in my case, the collision and liability coverage will come into effect, right ?
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 01:13 pm Post Subject:
The "deer part" was not to confuse you but to point out to you and others that crashing your vehicle into the deer itself is a comprehensive loss, not a collision loss. And damage to property is neither a collision loss nor a comprehensive loss. Collision and comprehensive losses, both subject to deductibles, are "first party losses" and property damage or personal injuries suffered by persons other than you (and who are not members of your household) are "third party" losses and paid for only by liability insurance, and then only when your negligence is involved.
And, yes, running your SUV off the road results in a collision loss to the SUV (subject to your deductible), and if you damaged anyone's property, such as road signs, guard rails, fences, landscaping, or vehicles, your liability coverage pays for that -- up to your policy limits.
Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 05:48 pm Post Subject:
OK, so if I hit a deer and then go off the road and hit a sign, which does more damage to my vehicle, is this all be handled under comprehensive? This is assuming that there was no damage to the sign. Thanks for your help.
Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 12:15 am Post Subject:
OK, so if I hit a deer and then go off the road and hit a sign, which does more damage to my vehicle, is this all be handled under comprehensive?
That's correct but your insurance company is going to look for confirmation that you hit a deer, such as a dead dear or hair on the vehicle. Lots of people attempt to claim they hit a deer when they really just ran into a sign.
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